Shadow Slave

Black pillars of smoke rose into the sky, obscuring the stars like a smoldering veil. Between the roiling dark heaven and the cold ravaged land, a fiery inferno seethed and swarmed, drowning the world in a scorching orange glow. Surrounded by numerous abominations and the cacophonous roar of heavy armaments, Sunny and Jet fought against the Devouring Cloud.

The wind was picking up.

Struggling not to slip on the fetid blood that covered the alloy expanse of the battlement, Sunny pulled Soul Reaper close and bent down, summoning a dome of shadows to surround them. His breathing was hoarse and labored.

There was no light inside the improvised shelter, and the brood beasts were already attacking it, the whole structure trembling under an onslaught of heavy blows. Worse still, he did not dare to sustain the barrier for more than a few seconds, afraid that the swarm would lose interest and shift its attention to the city beyond.

"I won't last much longer."

Master Jet was uncomfortably close, her physical state as battered and bloodied as his. Her chest rose and fell erratically, betraying the same level of exhaustion. Nevertheless, her voice sounded calm:

"You can't fight anymore?"

He shook his head, then spoke after realizing that she probably could not see him.

"No, not that. The charm... I don't have enough essence left to keep it active for long."

She lingered for a moment.

"Do what you can. After that, let's see what fate has in store."

Sunny winced at her choice of words, then considered if it was time to summon Nightmare. The black steed would be helpful in surviving the tide of brood beasts, but the two of them were not at the point of needing to be rescued yet. It was supplying the Dying Wish with essence that was the problem.

Nightmare was also large and lacked armor. His main defense was speed and viciousness, which would not protect him against the swarm. If the shadow stallion sustained heavy wounds today, Sunny would not be able to call upon him tomorrow.

'Back to the slaughter, then.'

He glanced at Jet.

"Ready?"

in the

"Always."

shadows to lose substance, and the black dome

brood beasts descended upon the two Ascended. Sunny and Jet were pushed back to back, unable to move. The jade longsword

of a heroic scene, exactly like what he had often seen in dramas and webtoons about valiant Awakened... not very practical, though. Stuck in one

'Curse it!'

strong gale of wind slammed into them, throwing many brood beasts off course. Jet used that moment to lunge forward and brandish her glaive, causing

above, the veil of smoke looked like

into the Dying Wish and sustaining the augmentation of the [Underworld Armament], hoping to buy Winter another minute... maybe half

Devouring Cloud seemed to have suddenly

past the two bloodied Masters. Ignoring the alluring enchantment of

'What the hell!'

slashed at the nearest abomination, cutting it in half. The other brood beasts simply

an Awakened Beast, Brood of the

[You have received...]

ignored the quiet whisper of the Spell and

was burning with red embers, as well. The main body of the swarm seemed... diminished, somewhat. Where once there had been an uninterrupted wall of winged horrors, now there was a tattered curtain of them, with

defenders did not waste

had almost died down, and now, the whole of the Devouring Cloud was

their advance once and for all... and for

'Goddammit...'

toward the position of the

so loudly that it drowned out the thunder of the firing rail guns for a moment. The barrier